Are there any high quality VPS providers that have a way to sign up and pay anonymously with Monero (or similar), manage via tor browser, etc?
back
1 comments
This here is assuming you don't have a nation state actively trying to track you down. Otherwise see [0]
One option is to use basically any provider + prepaid visa cards. Just access the website over tor or a VPN you semi trust. Sure it's technically traceable but not without a lot of trouble.
Keep in mind that once the VPS provider is issued a subpoena they still have access to your connecting computer's IP. They then have to issue a subpoena to your ISP for your account information. The only way to hide your IP is to use a proxy or a vpn... Oh wait, yeah that's the issue. See [0]
I personally just recommend using whatever you'd like, Vultr, DO, scaleway, etc. Feralhosting isn't anonymous but they uh... don't care what you really use it for cough torrents cough.
[0] If you're REALLY trying to be fully anonymous then you'll need to put on your blackhat. I would start with planting a raspberry pi in a business, library, coffeeshop, etc. You can use that IP as a starting point. You won't want to use only that one IP most likely, so you're going to need more proxies/servers, most common method is botnets. This really isn't worth the trouble to 99.9999% of people.
Edit: I guess I'm estimating there are ~7,000 people in the world who it's worth the trouble to do.... Actually that might be accurate, cool! :D
I've tried using prepaid cards with VPS providers and only found one that still took them (as of a couple years ago). Most won't take gift cards (prepaid visa) any more.
Hmm I was wondering if that was the case nowadays.
Honestly I don't think the extra step is worth it since the VPS will still know your origin IP in the event of a subpoena anyway.
You could try https://privacy.com but ironically I doubt it'll help much in terms of privacy. (I use privacy for convenience, as it essentially mitigates your card numbers being leaked - they're locked to the vender and you can impose spending limits)
Unfortunately I doubt there's many people who want 100% privacy that you'd want as customers if you're a VPS provider. I know Vultr accepts crypto but you have to prove your identity first (still great if you're a crypto advocate as privacy isn't the only benefit).
Otherwise you're stuck with resellers and grey-market providers. You could try "bulletproof" hosts from various uh-greyhat-forums but trusting those is very mehhhhh.
If I were taking such measures, I would just park near a coffee shop and use their wifi, using hardware I paid cash for and periodically changing my MAC address.
VPS providers can log connections and you won't really know how long they retain the data until it matters.
Wouldn't Tor hide your ip from the VPS provider even if they're subpoena'd?
EDIT: I realized this question might be confusing in this context. I'm not talking about torrenting large files (which you wouldn't want to do over Tor). I'm just wondering if it's possible to run a VPS with 100% anonymity.